Tattooed Heart
by randohopelessromantic
Summary: Ladybug asks Chat Noir if he has any tattoos. A quick one-shot fic.


"Chat Noir, do you have any tattoos?" Ladybug asked as they sat idly watching the Paris skyline after an uneventful patrol. Ladybug had been getting braver with her questions to her partner in crime prevention. The questions started innocently enough, favourite color (blue - like her eyes), favorite band (Jagged Stone - of course). None of those answers really surprised her and as time went on and feelings for Chat Noir started to become harder and harder to ignore and she found herself blurting out random questions to feed the curiosity that nagged at her. Chat would answer anything she asked - usually tagging on some sort of flirtation with the answer - and jumped at the chance to ask her back. Their back and forth had given them a bit clearer of a picture of who they were outside of their superhero selves. But Ladybug realized she wanted more and the question about tattoos left her mouth before she realized what she was saying.

Chat froze. Unsure of how to answer. Yes. It was true - he had a tattoo. No one but him and a well paid tattoo artist knew what and where. He had planned on telling her - when the time seemed right - when he was sure his advances were being met with more than an eye roll and a "silly kitty" response. His affection for Ladybug was no secret. Since the moment she faced off with StoneHeart he knew she would have his heart and he was wholly hers. A tattoo seemed like a way to put on to his skin what was already tattooed into his heart and very soul. So one night Chat Noir found himself at a tattoo parlour with a wad of cash and heart heavy with unrequited love for his lady. Being Adrien in real life meant he couldn't possibly have a tattoo. Dear old Dad would lose his mind to know his perfect son had been branded with such a trashy display of art. The body was not a canvas - the clothes were - the body was a temple and in Gabriel's eyes Adrien was perfection personified.

"I do" Chat responded quietly.

"You do?" Ladybug turned to face him, eyebrows raised in utter surprise.

"I do".

"Well, can I see it?" Ladybug blurted. A blush blossomed across her face as she darted her eyes away from his stare.

"oh, gee, um, I'm sorry - that's private- ah, I shouldn't have, should have, no shouldn't have asked such a personal que-que question" Ladybug stammered as Chat stared at her. She was showing a side of herself he didn't see often. Ladybug was always so sure of herself - so confident in her words and here she was stammering and stuttering like, like, well like Marinette reacts around his civilian self. Chat quickly pushed that thought aside and toyed with the idea of showing her his tattoo. Chat played nervously with the bell on his suit - the muted bell sound the only thing breaking up the awkward silence between them.

"Yeah" Chat spoke "I will show you".

Ladybug's eyes quickly shot up from the spot on the ground she was staring at to Chat, back to the ground, to Chat again - he had slight smile on his face - but not one of taunting… He was actually serious.

He grabbed his baton - fiddled with some buttons and passed it to her. Ladybug hesitantly grabbed for the baton - thinking he had brought up some sort of picture of the tat - but the sound of Chat unzipping his suit caught her attention. She held the baton and then glanced up to see Chat with his bell partly down his chest opening up to expose a very bare but muscular chest. Ladybug released a breath she didn't realize she was holding as he grabbed her hand holding the baton and guided her towards the left side of his chest.

He positioned his baton in her hand and clicked a flashlight option - the light was bright but revealed nothing - and then he clicked another button and a purple hue of a blacklight shone from his baton. In the purple light Ladybug could finally see what he was trying to show her - There on his chest, just above his heart was a ladybug tattoo in white ink. It was just small - no bigger than a fingerprint - but it was there like a secret branding. Ladybug glanced away from the tattoo to look up at Chat. It was his turn to blush as he caught her eyes and then quickly looked away. She looked back down at the tattoo - she reached out her free hand and started towards his chest - hesitated for a moment and then brushed her fingers across to feel the tattoo. It was then she realized how hard his heart was beating underneath the tattoo. It was as if the ladybug was buzzing and it was mesmerizing. Ladybug lost herself for a moment - her hand brushing over the tattoo on his chest, fingers lingering longer than she had planned to.

"Is this… is this for me?" Ladybug spoke in a voice so soft it was just above a whisper.

"It- it is, my lady" Chat responded barely able to speak himself. "Hy heart beats for you."

Ladybug laid down the baton, light fading from Chat's chest, and grabbed his arms. Chat was expecting the worse. He didn't know how to read his lady in this moment. Would she scold him for getting a tattoo - something that could identify him both in superhero and in civilian form? Would she laugh at him - tell him he's an idiot and that she'd never love him? His heart skipped a beat and his breath hitched in his throat as he realized Ladybug was moving closer to him. He glanced down to see Ladybug rest her head on his chest, ear to where the ladybug tattoo sat right above his heart. He resisted the urge to wrap his arms around her in a hug - for a moment - and then uncontrollably watched as his arms gently encased her. She was breathing softly but deeply, and from what he could tell from his position, her eyes were closed.

Ladybug just stayed there against Chat's chest, listening. She listened to the heart that was beating beneath her ears, beneath the tattoo that was just for her and lost herself in it's rhythm. Each beat confirmed to her that this was more than just flirting during akumas. Each beat echoed to her that this was more than just a crush. Each beat solidified what she had tried to push aside - that she felt deeply for the partner beneath her. It was as if his steady beating heart was playing her a song - a song of clarity - a song of sincerity - a song that sounded like home. Chat's grip around her tightened - he was having a similar epiphany. Her head on his heart felt like warmth, and caring and love and fireworks all into one. They stayed like that for sometime when Ladybug finally moved her head from his chest and slowly lifted her eyes up to catch Chat's looking down at her - both sets of eyes wide with wonderment.

Chat - lost for words - just looked at his lady with a sort of hesitant hopefulness.

Ladybug took his hand and brought it to her chest - she placed his hand above her own heart and held it there, her heartbeat as erratic as Chat knew his was. He felt her heartbeat through the strong material of the suit and lost himself in the feeling of her closeness.

Finally, knowing that what she was about to say was going to change everything. Ladybug spoke "My heart beats for you, too."


End file.
